Magnetically positioned guide means

ABSTRACT

Guide means of a predetermined shape for being positioned in advance of and substantially in the nip of a pair of juxtaposed rotating feed rolls, e.g., drafting rolls of a textile drafting apparatus, for receiving a strand of material and guiding the strand of material through the rolls. At least one of the rolls has at least an outside surface of magnetically conductive material. The guide means has magnetic means associated therewith of a predetermined magnetic strength for attraction to the magnetically conductive surface of the roll for holding the guide means in position in the nip of the pair of rolls to prevent falling out and allowing free rotation of the rolls and free movement of the guide means longitudinally of the pair of rolls under the influence of the strand of material.

United States Patent 1 91 Flowers et al.

[541 MAGNETICALLY POSITIONED GUIDE MEANS [75] Inventors: Thad T. Flowers,-Fort Mill; William I. Stuart, Chester, both of S.C.

[73] Assignee: Springs Mills, Inc., Fort Mill, S.C.

[22] Filed: Mar. 29, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 128,960

[52] us. Cl. ..226/l96, 242/157 R [51] Int. Cl. ..B65h 23/04 [58] Field of Search....226/196, 181; 242/157 R, 157

1 1 Mar. 27, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 972,927 10/1964 Great Britain ..19/264 Primary Examiner-Allen N. Knowles Attorney-Parrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson [57] ABSTRACT Guide means of a predetermined shape for being positioned in advance of and substantially in the nip of a pair of juxtaposed rotating feed rolls, e.g.,' drafting rolls of a textile drafting apparatus, for receiving a strand of material and guiding the strand of material through the rolls. At least one of the rolls has at least an outside surface of magnetically conductive material. The guide means has magnetic means associated therewith of a predetermined magnetic strength for attraction to the magnetically conductive surface of the roll for holding the guide means in position in the nip of the pair of rolls to prevent falling out and allowing free rotation of the rolls and free movement of the guide means longitudinally of the pair of rolls under the influence of the strand of material.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures MAGNETICALLY IOSITIONEI) GUIDE MEANS This invention is directed to a guide means for being magnetically positioned in advance of and in the nip of a pair of juxtaposed rotating feed rolls, such as a pair of drafting rolls in a textile drafting apparatus, for guiding a strand of material and for allowing free rotation of the rolls and free movement of the guide means longitudinally of the pair of rolls under the influence of the strand of material.

There have long been problems in proper positioning of a guide means in advance of and in the nip of a pair of feed rolls for the guiding of a strand of material through the feed rolls. This is particularly true with guide devices utilized in advance of the last pair of drafting rolls in a textile drafting apparatus for the guiding of a strand of textile fibers through the last pair of drafting rolls. These guides, of necessity, had to be free floating in the longitudinal direction of the pair of drafting rolls for moving under the influence of the strand of textile fibers as its path through the last pair of drafting rolls varies longitudinally of the drafting rolls. The guide devices are utilized to prevent excess fly and properly control the shape of and the path of travel of the strand of textile fibers as it passes through and comes out of the last pair of drafting rolls in a textile drafting apparatus, such as a roving frame, spinning frame or drawing frame.

I-Ieretofore, these guides have usually depended upon the movement of the strand of textile fibers for positioning and holding them in the nip of the pair of drafting or feed rolls. However, when the textile machine is stopped, these guide devices sometime fall out and are dislocated from their proper position in the nip of the drafting rolls. Attempts have been made to utilize wires or other devices for correctly positioning and holding the guides in the nip of the drafting or feed rolls. However, all of these attempts have been somewhat unsatisfactory, particularly in failing to provide the necessary free floating longitudinal movement of the guides with respect to the drafting rolls.

It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a guide means which is so constructed to be properly positioned and held in advance of and substantially within the nip of a pair of drafting or feed rolls for preventing falling out or dislocation of the guides from the nip of the rolls and to allow free movement of the guide means longitudinally of the pair of rolls under the influence of the strand of material.

It has been found by this invention that the above object may be accomplished by providing a guide means of a predetermined shape for being positioned in advance of and substantially in the nip of a pair of juxtaposed rotating feed rolls for receiving a strand of material and guiding the strand of material through the rolls. The rolls may be the last pair of drafting rolls in a textile drafting apparatus, such as a roving frame, spinning frame or drawing frame having a plurality of pairs of rotating drafting rolls successively mounted for gripping and feeding a strand of textile fibers therethrough. At least one of the rolls of the pair has at least an outside surface of magnetically conductive material. The guide means has magnetic means associated therewith of a predetermined magnetic strength for attraction to the magnetically conductive surface of the roll for holding the guide means in position in the nip of the pair of rolls to prevent falling out and allowing free rotation of the rolls and free movement of the guide means longitudinally of the pair of rolls under the influence of the strand of material being guided thereby.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated, other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view through a plurality of pairs of feeding or drafting-rolls of a typical textile drafting apparatus illustrating the improved guide means of this invention in position in advance ofand in the nip of the last pair of rolls;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of a portion of a typical roving frame illustrating a strand of textile fibers passing through one of the drafting zones and being wound on a bobbin;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the improved magnetically positioned guide means of this invention in position in the nip of a pair of feeding rolls and illustrating the magnetic circuits formed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the improved guide means of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial perspective view illustrating the magnetically positioned guide means of this invention in position in the nip of a pair of rotating feed rolls.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 2 a textile drafting apparatus, such as a roving frame, generally indicated by the reference numeral 10. This drafting apparatus normally comprises a plurality of drafting zones (only one of which is shown in section in FIG. 2). Each drafting zone comprises a plurality of pairs of juxtaposed, driven, rotating upper and lower drafting rolls II and I2 successively mounted for gripping and feeding a strand of material, such as textile fibers F, therebetween for winding on a bobbin mechanism 13.

The upper roll 11 is conventionally a rubber-covered roll and the bottom roll 12 is conventionally a fluted metallic roll providing at least an outer metallic surface which is magnetically conductive. The operation of these drafting zones and a typical roving frame is well understood by those with ordinary skill in the art and further explanation herein is not deemed necessary.

In order to properly guide the strand of textile fibers F through the last pair of rolls 11 and 12, there is conventionally utilized a guide means 20 positioned in advance of the lastpair of rolls l1 and I2 and substantially in the nip of this pair of rolls, as shown in FIGS. 1,

3 and 5 particularly, for guiding the strand of textile,

fibers F between the rolls. The strand of textile fibers F normally deviates a small amount in the longitudinal direction of the rolls II and 12 during feeding between the pairs of rolls I I and 12 and, therefore, it is desirable that the guide means 20 have free movement longitudinally of the rolls II and 12 while being positioned within the nip of these rolls.

The guide ZIP comprises an elongate body portion 21 having a generally triangular cross-sectional shape, as may be seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 particularly, for proper positioning in the nip of the rolls I1 and 12. The body portion 21 defines an open passageway 22 therethrough for the passage of the strand of textile fibers F, as may be seen particularly in FIG. 5.

In accordance with this invention, the guide 20 is provided with magnetic means 25 having a predetermined magnetic strength for attraction to the magnetically conductive surface of the roll 12 for holding the guide 20 in position in the nip of the rolls 11 and 12 to prevent falling out and allowing 'free rotation of the rolls 11 and 12in the direction of the arrows of FIG. and free movement of the guide 20 longitudinally of the pair of rolls l1 and 12 under the influence of the strand of fibers F. r The magnetic means 25 may comprise any suitable type of magnetized material including commercially available rubber-bonded barium ferrite material, polyurethane or other suitable tough plastic material with ferrite particles embedded therein, etc. This material may be magnetized to the desired strength necessary for the above-discussed relationships.

The magnetic means 25 may comprise triangular pieces of the above-discussed material secured to each outer end of the body portion 21 of the guide 20, in the manner shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. However, itis to be understood that the magnetic means 25 may be incorporated into the guide 20 in any manner and the guide 20 could itself be constructed of material suitable for magnetizing to accomplish the above purposes.

In the arrangement illustrated in the drawings, the magnetized material 25 secured to each end of the elongate body portion 21 of the guide 20 establishes magnetic circuits (illustrated schematically in FIG. 3) which pass through the magnetized material and through the magnetically conductive surface of the roil It is further within the scope of this invention to utilize magnetically positioned guides of this invention with any pair of juxtaposed feed rolls in any type of mechanism, in addition to the specifically desired textile drafting mechanisms discussed above, for the guiding of any strand of material through the rolls.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, theyare used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed is:

1. Guide means of a predetermined shape for being positioned in advance of and substantially in the nip of a pair of juxtaposed rotating feed rolls, at least one of which has at least an outside surface of magnetically conductive material, for receiving a strand of material and guiding the strand of material through the rolls, said guide means being of a length less than the length of the feed rolls and having magnetic means associated therewith of a predetermined magnetic strength for attraction to the magnetically conductive surface of the roll for holding said guide means in position in the nip of the pair of rolls to prevent falling out and for allowing free rotation of the rolls and free movement of said guide means longitudinally of the pair of rolls under the influence of the strand of material.

- 2. Guide means, as set forth in claim 1, in which said guide means comprises an elongate body portion having a generally triangular cross-sectional shape for proper positioning in the nip of the pair of rolls, said bodyportion defining an open passageway therethrough for the passa e of the strand of material.

3. Guide means, as set orth in claim 2, in which said magnetic means comprises magnetized material secured to each end of said body portion of said guide means for establishingmagnetic circuits which pass 

1. Guide means of a predetermined shape for being positioned in advance of and substantially in the nip of a pair of juxtaposed rotating feed rolls, at least one of which has at least an outside surface of magnetically conductive material, for receiving a strand of material and guiding the strand of material through the rolls, said guide means being of a length less than the length of the feed rolls and having magnetic means associated therewith of a predetermined magnetic strength for attraction to the magnetically conductive surface of the roll for holding said guide means in position in the nip of the pair of rolls to prevent falling out and for allowing free rotation of the rolls and free movement of said guide means longitudinally of the pair of rolls under the influence of the strand of material.
 2. Guide means, as set forth in claim 1, in which said guide means comprises an elongate body portion having a generally triangular cross-sectional shape for proper positioning in the nip of the pair of rolls, said body portion defining an open passageway therethrough for the passage of the strand of material.
 3. Guide means, as set forth in claim 2, in which said magnetic means comprises magnetized material secured to each end of said body portion of said guide means for establishing magnetic circuits which pass through said magnetized material and through the magnetically conductive surface of the roll. 